Link to Elizabeth’s gallery of the match

Racing 2-Orlando-0 — Fleur-de-lis FC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“We ain’t gotta dream no more, man.”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a show about 4 retired women living under one roof, proving that life goes on after 50 and that friendship is the true currency for which we should all strive…that and heroin.

Racing might not have a more satisfying win all season. Before the match, everyone I spoke to would have taken a draw. After the match, anything seems possible for this team. Racing has now taken us, well me at least, to the point of where heartache is possible. I started the season with such low expectations, that well…if you are consistent visitor to this space, you can see that I didn’t take them seriously. This goofy format (which will remained unchanged for this season at least) was a hedge against this team being awful and not very fun to write about. At the midway point, nothing could be further from the truth.

I will not type the words all of the words that I want to type because any time I write something positive I am immediately punished by the soccer gods for being hopeful. Maybe I will say it this way: we have enough evidence now that this team has a real shot to make the playoffs. And I don’t mean in the “monitoring the table after every result” way. I mean in the “this team is capable of not needing results to fall just right” way. I am fairly confident that people are going to continue to talk about the table from now until the end of the season. I think that is fun for most people, but I wouldn’t really get bent out of shape about it until 20 matches are in the books. If you are sweating the table, it means you haven’t taken care of business. Racing seems capable of doing that on a regular basis now.

The fact that they have done it by not adding a bunch of high-priced free agents may be the most impressive thing. I am not a big believer in togetherness and cohesion as the absolute key to success, but we really don’t have anything else to go on here. Something is working. I think the commitment to an identity probably helps greatly as well. Racing is still far too stubborn at times for my taste, but if that formula gets you 20 points from 13 matches, I think you have to take the good with the bad.

Last night was almost all good in spite of the opponent, which might be the most encouraging thing of all. Maybe you can count Racing a bit fortunate in that they seemed to catch Orlando on an off night and switching to back to a back four (followed by a back three at half). Regardless, Racing didn’t really give Orlando anything offensively, and their frustration mounted.

Out of context, the epigraph above may seem overly hopeful for me. If you know The Wire well, then the context will seem overly ominous. I mean to split the difference and instruct you take it at face value. The reality is that as of this moment, the playoffs seem not to be a dream, but a destination.

Bonus The Wire Video

There aren’t characters named “Gotham”, “Dash” or “Angel City” on The Wire. However, there is one named Orlando. Here is his death scene in honor of Racing beating the life out of Orlando.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Prompted by me, Arin Wright confirmed that this was the best “collective back four performance” in her tenure here. It is the type of performance that was lacking in Kansas City. If Racing can channel more like the one against Orlando, then things will continue to look up. I don’t think any defender would say that they had a stellar performance, but they all covered for each other. Wright admitted to thinking more about one of her rare mistakes on the night instead of her excellent header. Coach Bev, once again focused on the quality of the opponent (more believable on this occasion) and how the team didn’t get rattled by the different looks thrown at them by Orlando. Coaches often remind us that tactics are for practice and effort and commitment are for the match. Bev was highly complementary of how all of the players worked to get this effort right.

Did the stadium have good food?

I was particularly fond of the “Marinated Skirt Steak w/ Red Wine Demi”. There was a potato-y theme on the night with perogies and mashed potatoes both available. The fruit option was a little disappointing due to an overabundance what I call “trash fruit” (cantaloupe and honeydew) with only a single blackberry available when I went through the line. I am sure they replenished it, but I was too lazy to go back through the line.

Lightning-in-a-Bottle-O-Meter

Whenever Racing wins a match, I will rate how much of it was down to catching lightning in a bottle versus Racing just doing the things they do well.

This is a tough one. Racing earned its clean sheet without too much bother. Orlando had 16 shots and 7 on target, but I can’t remember a single one of them being dangerous and when I looked at the xG shot chart, their best chance was off target. Racing frustrated Orlando and that is to their credit. On the other hand, Orlando played poorly, and both Marta (special section) and Sams lost their cool. I saw nothing that would make me think Racing did anything above and beyond to seem extra irritating, so I have to chalk up their frustration to disappointment in their own performance. Sams’ penalty concession was needless and while Racing score from set pieces often enough, you hate to concede from one if you are Orlando. Racing played well, but they definitely got a poor performance from the Pride. 3/5

What do I miss?

Oh “Sav-acado” banner, you make me so happy. Why do you haunt me with your absence? Wind and rain and rescheduled matches meant that I have not been able to gaze at your glorious beauty for what feels like an eternity. I was crestfallen when the Legion decided not to hang you for this match. I asked the sage, Bekki Morgan, why they keep you locked away. She pondered that perhaps they only bring you out when the home team is draped in green.

Okay, fair enough. If that is the deal, stay in your prison “Sav-acado” banner. I will remember you fondly.

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Kayla Fischer will soon be returning to have reckless yellow cards doled out to her, but in the meantime, Taylor Flint has picked up the slack with 2 yellows in the last two matches. This one seemed to be for a flying hip check to the face of a Pride player. You read that correctly. She hip checked player in the face.

Just maybe don’t give Fischer any ideas.

Tantrum of the Match

OOOOOH! Marta’s mad!!!

The TV broadcast made it a point to cut to a frustrated Marta after she was subbed out. Maybe she was mad at her 6.1 Fotmob rating for the match. Or maybe it was her 1 for 7 in ground duels won (on a season average of around 50%). Maybe she was mad that she had to wear that ridiculous orange kit. Could be a number of things. Take the international break to cool down.

“One gorgeous night”

“We Let the Stars Go”/Jordan: The Comeback/1990

The stars finally aligned for Racing to have a beautiful night for soccer. The crowd was reported at only around 5600, but those fans will remember this one. Like I said, I didn’t give Racing much of a shot in this one but was delightfully proven wrong. You hate to go into a long break on a loss, and you also hate to go on a long break with momentum. I think Racing heads into this break with a no regrets feeling for the first half of the season. I am sure individual players will look back on things and wish they had done them differently, but the results are pleasantly solid with half a season to play.

“Fan the embers long enough”

Racing haven’t exactly caught fire, but this sustained run makes one think that a continued run after the break isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. The opening four matches are still brutal with 3 road matches against Orlando, Washington, and San Diego following a home rematch against the league leaders in Kansas City. Racing has proven that they have a home formula for beating good teams and Washington doesn’t seem quite as formidable. Then again, I could see no points from four. The difference is that I don’t expect it. Racing has played well enough recently to make me believe that there are points to be had in those matches.

“Other music fills my ears”

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that Racing and every opponent they face will look a bit different upon the return from break. With the transfer window opening on July 1st, all kinds of things could happen. The silly international tournaments during the window could make for slower player movement this summer and with free agency, teams have to operate differently than they did in the past. For Racing, one would expect that Fischer will be back in starting lineup with possibly Balcer pushing for her place when we get to August. Other teams will also look to regroup. Washington needs a few more healthy players in my opinion. Portland and Seattle could look at their accelerated rebuilds and think going into the market is worth it. Gotham continues to rely somewhat on the health of Rose Lavelle, so they could look to bolster their roster too. Several teams could be playing from a different song book when we return to NWSL action.

“The light is gone and it is dark”

I don’t expect that you will be hearing from me for a while in this space. I will cover The Women’s Cup and the friendly against Lexington SC but will probably forgo this format and stick to the basics.

All of us have homework during the summer break.

Somehow, we all have to figure out a way to get people to come see this team. I wish I had the magic formula, but nobody does. The one thing working for all of us that we have never had before is that we can demonstrate that this team is a winner and legitimately has something to play for. The last question asked of Arin Wright last night, was basically “How do you get people to come see this team?” I think Arin was correct in saying that it starts with winning. I find baseball incredibly dull, but I watched U of L in the NCAA tournament and College World Series. There are casual fans out there to be convinced. Let’s go convince them.

“We ain’t gotta dream no more, man.”